Roll holder

ABSTRACT

A pair of spaced apart and supported spring-loaded truncated plungers for removably holding a roll of paper or other material.

I Umted States Patent 1 [111 3,878,998

Lazzari Apr. 22, 1975 [54] ROLL HOLDER 1,187,705 6/1916 Calvert 242/552 1,523,491 1/1925 Rast 242/552 [761 Gllbe" 'f' 340 3,516,615 6/1970 Wickenbcrg 242/552 Rd., Redwood City, Calif. 94062 [22] Filed: Dec. 3, 1973 Primary E.\'aminerGeorge F. Mautz [21] Appl. No.: 420,847

[52] US. Cl. 242/552 [51] Int. Cl A47k 10/16 ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search 242/552, 55.3. 55.53.

242/1295, 129.6, 68.4 A pair of spaced apart and supported spring-loaded truncated plungers for removably holding a roll of [56] References Cited paper or other material.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 515,849 3/l894 Wheeler 242/552 1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures ROLL HOLDER It is perhaps well known that most mounts for rolls of paper, such as a roll of toilet tissue, comprise a base provided with a pair of outwardly projecting arms of which one arm is either spring-mounted for movement normally toward the other arm, or is pivotally mounted in the same manner with respect to the other. The roll to be mounted normally has a central hollow core into which inwardly projecting extensions are carried for centering and entering the core of the roll and thus mounting of the roll after temporarily forcing the pivotally or spring mounted arm away from the other arm so that the roll with its central core can be slipped into place on the inwardly projecting extensions. Another type of mount for rolls of this type comprise a removable shaft which normally seats in spaced apart opposed recesses formed in a wall in which a rollreceiving cavity exists in the same wall; such recesses extending inwardly from the cavity at a level the same as the core of the roll when disposed in operative position for unrolling of the tissue. One end of the mounting shaft seats against a tension spring disposed in one of the recesses; such shaft being pressed inwardly against the tension of the spring in order to slip the core ofa roll onto the shaft and the shaft thereafter being released for snapping back in the opposed recess in the wall, thus mounting the roll. The various roll mounting devices heretofore manufactured are complex in construction and difficult to use in mounting as well as removing a roll of paper for replacement of a new roll. The present invention is directed to the provision of a roll holder which obviates all of the disadvantages of prior devices of this general nature.

A primary object of my present invention is to provide an improved roll holder which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and which is relatively easy to use in mounting thereon and removing therefrom a roll of tissue paper or a roll of any material which is dispensed or removed from the roll while mounted on the holder.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a roll holder of the indicated nature which is additionally characterized by its capability of being used for mounting a roll or for removing a roll therefrom by the unskilled as well as the skilled.

Other objects of the invention, together with some of the advantageous features thereof will appear from the following description of the embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and which is an exemplification of the best mode of constructing and manner of using the same. It is to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover the embodiment illustrated as well as variations thereof, as the invention can be embodied in a plurality of forms.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view, partly in cross-section and partly broken away to illustrate the construction, of an embodiment of my present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

Intone preferred form, the improved roll holder of my present invention comprises a base, a pair of spaced apart standards on and projecting normal to said base, a hollow housing on each of said standards, together with a spring-loaded bevelled plunger movably mounted in each of said housings which enables the slip mounting of a roll into operative position by pressing the sides of the roll against a bevelled end of each plunger.

As particularly illustrated in the annexed drawings, I provide a suitable supporting base 11 fashioned with holes 12 at the four corners thereof for passing nails or screws in order removably to mount the holder on a wall or the like, not shown. Base 11 can be made of wood or stamped from a metal, such as steel, aluminum or other light-weight metal and if of metal the screws 12 can be metal screws for firmly holding the base flat to a wall. A pair of standards 13 and 14 are suitably secured, such as by welding or cementing the same to the outer or upper surface 15 of base 11, and are projected so as to extend at substantially right angles to the base in spaced apart relationship a sufficient distance to pass a conventional size of a roll of tissue or roll of other material. As shown particularly in FIG. 2 each of the standards 13 and 14 is formed with a cradle in its upper or outer ends, the cradle being designated by the reference numerals 16 and 17 respectively and conveniently being arcuate in shape for cradling cylindrically shaped housings l8 and 19, respectively, each having an outer flange 20 thereon and which are formed with hollow chambers 21 and 22 respectively.

In accordance with the present invention, a pair of specially constructed plungers 23 and 24 are movably mounted within the chambers 21 and 22 of the housings 18 and 19, respectively, and such plungers are formed with recesses in their inner ends, as indicated at 26 and 27 for the reception of tension springs 28 and 29, which are seated against the inner ends 30 of the housings 18 and 19 at their one end and seated against the inner ends 3l of the recesses 26 and 27 at their other ends. Thus, each of the plungers 23 and 24 are spring-loaded in the sense that the tension ,,of the springs 28 and 29, respectively, normally hold the plungers in positions projecting outwardly from the standards 13 and 14 as illustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawings. Each of the plungers 23 and 24 is truncated or bevelled on its outer end 32 and 33, respectively; the pitch of the angular cuts to form the bevelled ends 32 and 33 being approximately 45 top to bottom so that the upper lengths 34 of the plungers are greater than the lower lengths 35 thereof, as clearly shown. The application of pressure on the outer bevelled or truncated ends 32 and 33 will compress or move the plungers into the chambers 21 and 22 of the housings 18 and 19, respectively, against the tensions of the springs 28 and 29,

In order to prevent rotation or oscillation or other adverse movement of the plungers 23 and 24 while confined within The chambers 21 and 22 of housings 18 and 19 and to limit the movement of such plungers to linear in and out movements, I conveniently provide an elongated slot 36 in the side of each of the slots together with a pin 37 extending through each of the housings into each slot 36, as clearly shown in FIG. 2. The pins 37 bear against the opposite sides 38 of each slot to limit turning of the plungers 23 and 24 and such pins 37 bear against either one end or the other end of each of the slots 36 depending whether the plungers 23 and 24 are in their projected positions relative to the standards 18 and 19m whether the plungers have been moved inwardly of the housings, thus limiting the linear movements of the plungers in each of its linear directions as well as limiting other movement of the plungers.

To utilize the roll holder after it has been assembled and mounted on a wall or a bracket or the like, it is only necessary in order to suspend a roll thereon and to enable the unwinding of material from the roll, to press the sides of the roll against the angularly cut or bevelled outer ends of the plungers 23 and 24 to cause each of them to enter the chambers of the housings. The pressing action accompanies a moving of the roll upwardly during the pressing of the sides of the roll against the until the core of the roll is level with the at which level there is no longer any pressure on the plungers which return to their initial positions by virtue of the tension action of each of the springs 28 and 29 and enter the hollow core of the roll. Assuming that the roll which is so mounted is a roll of toilet tissue which is wound upon a hollow cardboard core. The mounting of such roll of tissue upon the improved holder of my hereinabove described invention is upward with the sides of the roll of tissue engaging the bevelled or truncated outer ends 32 and 33 f the plungers and forcing them inwardly against the tension of the springs. As the roll is thus lifted, the hollow cardboard core of the roll of tissue reaches the level of the plungers relieving all pressure thereon and the plungers move outwardly to positions within the core of the roll, thus mounting the roll of tissue on the holder. After the tissue has been depleted there remains only the hollow cardboard core which can readily be removed from the opposed plungers 23 and 24 to provide room or space for the mounting of a succeeding similar roll of tissue by simply pressing the cardboard core upwardly to cause the plungers to enter the recesses of the housing chambers against the tension of the springs 28 and 29 therein, in the same manner as mounting of the full roll initially.

The appended claims are intended to cover the embodiment illustrated as well as variations thereof within the scope of such claims.

I claim:

1. A roll holder upon and from which a roll can be mounted and removed with a single hand movement; said holder comprising a base, a pair of spaced apart standards fixedly secured to said base and extending normal thereto, a hollow housing on each of said standards arranged in spaced relationship at the same level with respect to one another; each of said housings opening toward one another, a pair of linearly movable plungers mounted in said hollow-housings; each of said pair of plungers having a cavity in its inner end and having a long side and a shorter opposite side, a bevelled outer end on each of said plungers joining said long side and said shorter side to which pressure may be applied to move said plungers into said hollow housings, and a spring confined between the inner end of each of said housings and the bottom of each of said cavities in said plungers urging said plungers outwardly for supporting the core of a roll on the long side of each of said plungers; pressure applied to said bevelled ends of said plungers forcing them into said housings when mounting a roll thereon and when removing a roll therefrom; each of said housings having an elongated slot therein a hole in the shorter side of each of said plungers extending interiorly thereof and in communication with said slots in said housings, and a pin extending through each of said slots into each of said holes to limit the linear movement of each of said plungers and to prevent rotation thereof. 

1. A roll holder upon and from which a roll can be mounted and removed with a single hand movement; said holder comprising a base, a pair of spaced apart standards fixedly secured to said base and extending normal thereto, a hollow housing on each of said standards arranged in spaced relationship at the same level with respect to one another; each of said housings opening toward one another, a pair of linearly movable plungers mounted in said hollow-housings; each of said pair of plungers having a cavity in its inner end and having a long side and a shorter opposite side, a bevelled outer end on each of said plungers joining said long side and said shorter side to which pressure may be applied to move said plungers into said hollow housings, and a spring confined between the inner end of each of said housings and the bottom of each of said cavities in said plungers urging said plungers outwardly for supporting the core of a roll on the long side of each of said plungers; pressure applied to said bevelled ends of said plungers forcing them into said housings when mounting a roll thereon and when removing a roll therefrom; each of said housings having an elongated slot therein a hole in the shorter side of each of said plungers extending interiorly thereof and in communication with said slots in said housings, and a pin extending through each of said slots into each of said holes to limit the linear movement of each of said plungers and to prevent rotation thereof. 